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r Controlled - Bossy r
This “r” is sometimes called the “bossy r” because it controls the sound of the vowel it follows. When a vowel is followed by an “r”, the “r” changes the sound that the vowel makes, thus calling it an r-controlled vowel.
If “a” is followed by an “r”, the vowel no longer makes its sort sound, but is changed to the sound you hear in “arm”, “car”, “guitar”, “Martha”.
When an “o” is followed by an “r”, it no longer makes its short sound but is changed to the sound you hear in “torn”, “short”, “sword”, “torch”.
When an “i”, “e”, or “u” are followed by an “r”, they no longer make their short vowel sounds. Instead your hear “er” as in “her”, “clerk”, “serve”, “fir”, “stir”, “squirt”, “fur”, “curb”, “churn”, “blurt”.
Note: It is important to note that when the “r” is followed by another consonant, the rule continues to apply as in “farm”, “start”, and “charm”.
However if the “r” is followed by a silent “e”, the R-controlled Vowel rule no longer applies as in “fir/fire”, “car/care”, “her/here”.
It is important to teach students to recognize and practice words containing r-controlled vowels.
Of course, all word study is based on the continuing assessment of students’ individual needs.